


smash the castle down, burn the rest

by sandpapersnowman



Category: Preacher (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Not Cheating, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Surprise Kissing, Valentine's Day, cheating fic bad and u will Never catch it from me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:21:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22793917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sandpapersnowman/pseuds/sandpapersnowman
Summary: Cassidy kisses him while Tulip is in the shower.He got her permission for it, of course, silently giving her the agreed-upon signal they discussed that he's finally going to make some kind of move on Jesse before she closes the door behind her.He settles beside Jesse where he's sitting and flicking through channels on the hotel TV, takes a deep breath, and leans in.
Relationships: Jesse Custer/Tulip O'Hare, Proinsias Cassidy/Jesse Custer, Proinsias Cassidy/Jesse Custer/Tulip O'Hare, Proinsias Cassidy/Tulip O'Hare
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	smash the castle down, burn the rest

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this a WHILE back and finally polished it up recently! i would die for these three and need to rewatch preacher tbh
> 
> title bastardized from phoenix's [Tuttifrutti](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/phoenix/tuttifrutti.html)

Cassidy kisses him while Tulip is in the shower. 

He got her permission for it, of course, silently giving her the agreed-upon signal they discussed that he's finally going to make some kind of move on Jesse before she closes the door behind her.

He settles beside Jesse where he's sitting and flicking through channels on the hotel TV, takes a deep breath, and leans in.

It's slow, and kind of pathetic, and Cassidy knows that if nothing else, Jesse will understand he just needs to get it out of his system. He's not going to purposely upset the balance of whatever is going on with him and Tulip, but he _needs_ to get this out of his system. Just once.

Cassidy hadn't expected Jesse would start slowly kissing him back. God knows Cassidy hadn't expected _Jesse_ to be the one to pick up the pace, slide his fingers into Cassidy's hair and trap them together

For the first time in a long time, Cassidy feels... Alive. _Really_ alive.

 _Jesus, Jesse_ gets mumbled somewhere in it all, and Jesse finally gives him a second to breathe.

"What?"

"I..." Cassidy laughs. "I don't know," he admits. "I thought you'd be rinsing your mouth out with soap by now."

His eyes are still shut, but he can feel Jesse's smile and the soft puff of a laugh against his mouth. 

"Life's too short not to have nice things anymore," Jesse scoffs.

There's some kind of warmth that floods him hearing Jesse call him a nice thing, and he lets himself preen in it for a second before being the responsible one here.

"And... Have you talked about this with Tulip, too? Or was it just me panicking over kissing her boyfriend?"

Jesse laughs again, something vulnerable in it that reminds Cassidy of everything he sees in this man.

"Yeah, it... It came up the other night," Jesse admits. "She already knew. She knows me better than I know myself, I think she's probably _always_ known."

Cassidy wants to ask what he means — if Tulip knows Jesse is interested, if that means Jesse's _been_ interested, since before Tulip showed up again — but Jesse kisses him again like he's wanted this since the moment they met, and maybe he _has_.

Some time later, passing the time kissing like awkward teenagers with their legs pulled up onto the bed, Tulip comes out of the bathroom in an undershirt and a stolen pair of Cassidy's more decent boxers.

"Oh, _finally_ ," she says loudly, formally announcing her presence, and Jesse startles away from Cassidy's mouth.

Cassidy only grins at her with his kiss-bitten mouth, one hand shyly at Jesse's hip.

"You could have told us," Jesse frowns at her, but there's no _real_ bitterness in it.

"And missed out on both of you pining like high school girls? Absolutely not."

She settles between them and tugs them all to lay down properly. It takes some rearranging, with Cassidy spooning Tulip and both of them facing Jesse, but she manages to maneuver them so both of her boys are wrapped around her and holding hands where they all meet under her chin.

Cassidy can't help the content sigh when Jesse's hand settles warm and hesitant over his. Every jagged edge, every confusing jigsaw piece seems to melt — fuck putting the tabs and blanks together, the big picture doesn't _matter_ compared to how simple and complete it feels just holding one another.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Tulip mutters, nuzzling her face into their conjoined tangle of fingers.

"It's the 18th."

"Happy _late_ Valentine's Day, then," Cassidy says, grinning at Jesse over Tulip's still-damp hair.

Jesse doesn't say anything else, outnumbered.

His thumb strokes the back of Cassidy's hand, Tulip brings Jesse's legs closer with ankles locked around his calves, and, with some teamwork, they manage to shimmy the blanket over the three of them with minimal complications.

Even though they gradually shift and untangle throughout the night, none of them have nightmares for the first time in weeks.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm also [sandpapersnowman on tumblr](http://sandpapersnowman.tumblr.com/ao3land/)!


End file.
